Soldiers get five years with hard labour for Mong Yaw murders

Soldiers stand guard outside a military tribunal that handed down prison sentences to seven Burmese servicemen found guilty of murdering civilians in Shan State in late June. (Photo: Khun Myo Satt / DVB)

A military court has handed down sentences of five years with hard labour to seven Burmese army servicemen found guilty of murdering local villagers in northern Shan State’s Lashio Township earlier this year.

The tribunal stripped the convicted soldiers, including a division commander and three other officers, of their rank so that they can serve their sentences in civilian prisons, according to sources present at the hearing.

On 25 June, soldiers rounded up dozens of farmers working in fields near the village of Mong Yaw. Later that evening, all were released except five who were suspected of having links to ethnic rebels operating in the area. Four days later, the bodies of all five men were discovered by local villagers.

The bodies of two other locals who were reportedly killed after being shot for failing to stop at an army roadblock were also found around the same time. Noinvestigation has been held to determine whether they were also victims of murder.

The families of the five deceased — Sai Ai Hsai, Sai Ai Maung, Sai Ai Lord, Naw Tint and Sai Hla — were at the hearing when the verdict was reached.